About this Research Topic
Recently, non-invasion brain stimulation (NIBS) has emerged as a safe and efficacious intervention for various brain-based disorders. The NIBS techniques allow transcranial modulation of the excitability of specific brain areas via electromagnetic or electric stimulation to which they contribute. The most common of these are repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), transcranial directive electronic stimulation (tDCS), and transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS), which are now widely used as potential therapeutic tools in the field of psychiatry, including treatment-resistant schizophrenia, major depressive, and autism disorders. Evidence from meta-analyses suggests that the NIBS techniques are promising for the treatment of psychiatric disorders.
Neuroimaging studies have demonstrated that psychiatry is unlikely to be a disease of a single brain region rather than it has been progressively viewed as a system-level disorder affecting integrated pathways linking select cortical, subcortical, and limbic regions. rTMS and tDCS or tACS can exert the modulatory effect not only in the stimulated area but also at distant sites and provide exciting perspectives for therapeutic applications. The therapeutic mechanism of these techniques for psychiatric disorders is thought to be normalized through the neuromodulation of neuroplasticity in the abnormal brain regions or circuits. Nonetheless, the exact mechanism of action of NIBS has yet to be fully elucidated. Thus, the utilization of the NIBS collaborated with neuroimaging approaches is beneficial to understand the effectiveness of treatment for psychiatric disorders. And elucidating the underlying neural mechanism of NIBS is conducive to understanding the neuropathophysiological of psychiatric disorders and the development of novel treatment protocols.
This topic aims to achieve a synthesis of current knowledge on neural mechanisms of NIBS applied to psychiatric disorders measuring from single or multiple neuroimaging modalities, such as fMRI, MRI, PET, EEG, MEG, and fNIRS. Original studies and reviews with a conceptual focus on this research topic are welcomed. The scope of this research topic includes but is not limited to:
- Normalisation of disrupted spontaneous brain activity, metabolism, or cerebral blood flow in patients after NIBS treatment;
- Improvements of the abnormal brain structures from gray matter or white matter in patients during NIBS treatment;
- Alternations in dysconnectivity in the functional domain, structural domain, or function-structure domain coupling of the brain networks while NIBS applying in the patients.
Neuroimaging studies have demonstrated that psychiatry is unlikely to be a disease of a single brain region rather than it has been progressively viewed as a system-level disorder affecting integrated pathways linking select cortical, subcortical, and limbic regions. rTMS and tDCS or tACS can exert the modulatory effect not only in the stimulated area but also at distant sites and provide exciting perspectives for therapeutic applications. The therapeutic mechanism of these techniques for psychiatric disorders is thought to be normalized through the neuromodulation of neuroplasticity in the abnormal brain regions or circuits. Nonetheless, the exact mechanism of action of NIBS has yet to be fully elucidated. Thus, the utilization of the NIBS collaborated with neuroimaging approaches is beneficial to understand the effectiveness of treatment for psychiatric disorders. And elucidating the underlying neural mechanism of NIBS is conducive to understanding the neuropathophysiological of psychiatric disorders and the development of novel treatment protocols.
This topic aims to achieve a synthesis of current knowledge on neural mechanisms of NIBS applied to psychiatric disorders measuring from single or multiple neuroimaging modalities, such as fMRI, MRI, PET, EEG, MEG, and fNIRS. Original studies and reviews with a conceptual focus on this research topic are welcomed. The scope of this research topic includes but is not limited to:
- Normalisation of disrupted spontaneous brain activity, metabolism, or cerebral blood flow in patients after NIBS treatment;
- Improvements of the abnormal brain structures from gray matter or white matter in patients during NIBS treatment;
- Alternations in dysconnectivity in the functional domain, structural domain, or function-structure domain coupling of the brain networks while NIBS applying in the patients.
Keywords: Neuroimaging Study, Non-invasion Brain Stimulation, Psychiatric Disorders, Brain Function and Structure, Neural Plasticity
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